2019 Directed by Nick Broomfield
A story of enduring love between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse, Marianne Ihlen. The film follows their relationship from their early days in Greece, a time of "free love" and open marriage, to how their love evolved when Leonard became a successful musician.
Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love
USA
Sundance Film Festival
USA
UK12A
FinlandK-12
NorwayA
SwedenBtl
Russian Federation18+
Germany
GreeceK15
Italy
France12
USA
NorwayA
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Italy
Norway
Russian Federation
Sweden
UK
USA
The footage is beautiful, the story is a bit messy. Leonard Cohen and pretty much everyone on the Greek island of Hydra (including the donkeys) were tripping balls in the 60s. It's a heartfelt but imperfect documentary.
I just don't think I'll ever fully recover from Leonard's final love letter to Marianne:
Dearest Marianne,
I’m just a little behind you, close enough to take your hand. This old body has given up, just as yours has too, and the eviction notice is on its way any day now.
I’ve never forgotten your love and your beauty. But you know that. I don’t have to say any more. Safe travels old friend. See you down the road. Love and gratitude.
— Leonard
Just like biopics, music documentaries have a tendency to deal with a lot of tropes that tend to negatively impact the quality of the final product. The documentary format, however, has also been proved to be a very flexible format, allowing for better creativity.
Compared to a traditional documentary, this one seems to take a different approach, more like how you would attend a funeral and listen to eulogies for two people who loved each other dearly. Rather than narrating his life, the interviewees seem to be bringing back some fond memories and recollections of a close friend. In a way, it is less of a documentary and more like a love letter.
However, despite appreciating this new approach, I…
In the great Bob Dylan vs. Leonard Cohen debate, I am team Dylan all the way. I basically viewed the documentary in the best way possible, knowing practically NOTHING about Leonard Cohen (except some basics, like he's the guy who did "Hallelujah" and being a super Suzanne Vega fan, I was familiar with "So Long, Marianne" because of her duet of it with John Cale).
I have great admiration for Nick Broomfield, the director. Really, he's a great documentary filmmaker. That being said, the timeline was out of control and not in a good way. It's really the main thing that brought it down. It was completely messy. The story was good. The interviews were good. The filmmaker knew Marianne,…
Leonard Cohen was a lot of things in his life, but most of all he was a searcher. And like all true searchers, he always needed something to seek — something that he had, and loved, and let slip through his open fingers once it was familiar enough that he knew he could feel it on his skin forever. For Cohen, that something was a someone, and that someone was Marianne Ihlen, a Norwegian single mother who the late musician and writer met on the idyllic Greek island of Hydra in the early 1960s.
Along with Ihlen’s young son, Axle, they lived together in a daydream; she thought of them as a makeshift family, but he thought of her as…
Did you know that director Nick Broomfield once slept with the same woman Leonard Cohen did? Because Nick Broomfield wants you to know he once slept with the same woman Leonard Cohen did. He made a whole film about it.
Moral of the story: The world may be unbearably complex and broken, and life is long and living is often hard and conflict seems inevitable, especially when our desires enter the equation......but sometimes, a good shave can make all the difference.
Well, Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.
- Leonard Cohen’s final letter to Marianne
the moment where Bloomfield announces in dreary monotone that he was also one of Marianne’s lovers more or less sets the tone for the entire movie
Nick Broomfield's documentary looking at Leonard Cohen and his muse Marianne Ilhen is (unusually for Broomfield) a measured reflection on this relationship, while also exploring other key times, influences, places and indulgences that Cohen enjoyed, explored and experienced. I learned a great deal about this supremely talented, gifted, intelligent and often hilarious man, who I've loved and leaned on for decades.
Some highlighted flaws I found to be slightly, perhaps inevitably, disappointing upon discovery. But, can any genuinely substantial, interesting or worthy content be gained, trusted or learned from a one sided, gushing, sycophantic, Occums Broom approach? If anything, being unafraid to show the singer/songwriter's imperfections and occassional, uncomfortable selfishness, which contradicted the rather naive notions I've long applied to…
this documentary had many problems and honestly it would be a wonder if it had managed to be faithful to its name or the beauty of leonard’s letter.
the director’s self insertion is the main issue since his voice is too loud for someone who was virtually irrelevant for the people whose lives are being documented and his apparent interest of making himself sound cool only tarnishes the end product. the timeline is confusing and important events are skimmed through, making it barely informative for someone who isn’t already familiar with the story. nevertheless i was moved by the images of hydra, the beauty of leonard’s art, his quest and his relationship with marianne and that last goodbye.
6/10
Universal + DogWoof. Cinema
1.33:1 + 1.37:1
Color + Monochrome
16mm + Video HD
15
Marianne And Leonard: Words Of Love is a fascinating account of doomed love. Broomfield's latest captures the poignant essence of unrequited love at it's most profound and dearest quality. A spine-tingling aura of passion in a sentimental delivery. Devastating yet uplifting and charming in the same breath.
81
There is a scene in the Swedish documentary A Thousand Pieces, about the singer Björn Afzelius, in which his old girlfriend retells about how Afzelius would come back home after a tour, spending hours sitting in shame in the shower to try and wash away the feelings of all the groupies he’s spent time with on the road. Now, the decadent life of a touring musician is an endlessly retold story, but the person having a relationship to an artist who’s out on tour, womanizing and in many cases using drugs, must be a very special thing and Marianne & Leonard explores that. At least in its best moments.
See, my major gripe with this film is that it can’t seem…
